


Imp-Lied: Time Warp

by Blue_Mistfall



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: All Egos and Sides are little imps, Dancing, Singing, The Nightmare before Christmas performance, stage fright
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:00:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27082318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Mistfall/pseuds/Blue_Mistfall
Summary: What can happen during the preparation to the Halloween performance and concert, but all the actors and singers are literally little devils? Anything, for sure!
Kudos: 1





	Imp-Lied: Time Warp

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based on the AU created by https://www.deviantart.com/sanagicgb  
> Go check it out, it's totally awesome!

Stay still. Stay still. Stay still, or you’re gonna fall off like my feet did… Only after this thought Eric realized how weird it could’ve sounded and relaxed, for he hadn’t said it aloud. This was addressed to his hands, which were shaking so much that he couldn’t even hold a lollipop which was his character’s attribute.  
“This one was great, Virgil!” the voice of Mark’s friend Thomas sounded from the next room. Today the house was almost stuffed with imps, for their three human owners-not-owners (carers maybe?) had decided to arrange a performance dedicated to the upcoming holiday. And, of course, Eric had been chosen for one of the roles despite his desperate objections. Thank goodness it was not one of the main roles, but ‘still important’, as Mark had stated. Eric would’ve preferred playing the part of a tiny little animal hiding under a bed.  
Surprisingly, meeting the new imps hadn’t been as shocking as Eric had imagined. Maybe because he already was familiar with Jack’s charges? Anyway, Thomas’s charge Virgil – purple horns sticking up, wings surrounded with puffs of smoke, shades around the eyes – flew into the room, landed by Eric’s side and wiped his forehead with his sleeve.  
“Whew! Now that one was nerve-wracking!” he gasped. “I told them that Dark would fit this role much better than me. But no! Your human says that he’s too tragic for this!”  
“I-I think you’re right,” Eric nodded: ‘tragic’ was the best word describing Dark who was almost constantly gloomy, but not because of being just grumpy. It could be felt that he was accompanied by overriding sadness day and night, but no one ever dared to ask him why. Only Wilford seemed to know what the matter was… although asking him would be risky at least (even though he was always kind to Eric).  
“I wouldn’t have agreed to act the part of Jack Skellington if it wasn’t one of my favourite movies,” Virgil confessed. “At least no hassle with learning songs by heart… Whose role did you get?”  
“Barrel’s,” Eric replied. Virgil grinned for the first time in his presence: it was a lop-sided grin, but still.  
“Lock, Shock and Barrel. Three mischief makers… Is it a coincidence that Mark, Jack and Thomas decided to give their parts to three imps from different families?”  
“Families?”  
“Are those not? Thomas adopted us all together, and I’ve seen those twins treat you like their little brother. And your carer… he’s so… kind to all of you. Isn’t that the indication?”  
“I dunno,” Eric stated, staring at the tip of his prosthetic feet. “Not gonna cope with singing. Totally not.”  
“And I think you will,” Virgil objected. “My part has multiple songs, and yours has only one. Besides, you’re going to sing it together with Remus. He’s a mess, but… don’t tell anyone, but he’s actually quite supportive towards those whom he likes.”  
“Do you think he will like me?”  
“Remus pulls pranks only on those who he considers to deserve it. I mean, those who think that bullying is fun.” Virgil stood up. “Come on, I think it’s time for our common episode… So it’s true, then,” he signed when Eric slid onto the floor and walked after him. “You’re not a flyer.”  
“Jims are teaching me.” Eric flapped his patched-up wings and this time managed to take off, but did not stay in the air for long, having almost immediately tumbled down. Virgil muttered something under his breath (judging by his tone, he was swearing), grabbed Eric under his arms and flew to the main rehearsal room. Eric did not mind being carried this way, for he was used to such treatment from the Jim Twins.  
The living room was practically occupied with imps of all colors, so Eric’s eyes even began tearing up with all this brightness. They were sitting on the back of the couch, on the shelves and on the shoulders of their human carers. Two of them were even hanging on the chandelier, one of them being the infamous Remus and the other Anti.  
“There you are!” Marvin, the long-haired imp wearing a white cat mask, landed in front of him. “Come on, it’s time for our first scene!”  
Eric restored the text he had read in his memory as best he could, but was close to forgetting it again when he saw the Jim Twins who were standing back-to-back, one of them keeping a creepy smirk on his face and the other doing his best to keep the nervous expression. Now that was going to be a total hurricane.  
***  
The rehearsal was not as disastrous as Eric had imagined. He had never sung anything in public before, but Mark, Jack and Thomas had agreed that his singing had been decent for the first time. However, he ‘had to work on emotions’. Why couldn’t they choose Wilford for the role of a mischief maker? – Eric wondered, rubbing on his neck. Working on emotions, ha! Wilford had emotions that were ready to burst him to pieces any moment, and Eric’s throat was ready to clench shut every time when he felt somebody’s eyes on him.   
“I do underztand you, little one.” The imp in a white gown and with a medical cap on his head landed next to him on the windowsill. “I’m not uzed to singing eizer. Couldn’t zey appoint Edward to zis role?”  
Eric shrugged, for he couldn’t emit a single sound, but not because of ‘stranger awareness’. In fact, this one was not a stranger. It was Henrik von Schneeplestein (what a name for such a tiny creature), Edward’s companion, for he had a natural blade on his tail as well.  
“Th-they… said s-something… about… fairness,” Eric pressed out and immediately had a fit of coughs. Henrik frowned, flew off and returned with an imp-sized cup of water and a round greenish blue thing that looked like a hard candy, but smelled strongly like mint.  
“It’z called a lozenge,” Henrik explained, having caught Eric’s puzzled look, and broke a piece of its edge. “It will make you feel better. Careful.”  
At first Eric was tempted to spit the ‘lozenge’ out, for his throat hurt even worse after he held it in his mouth, but he swallowed his discontent and waited. Henrik was right: soon the pain began subsiding, though it did not vanish completely.  
“Ze main zing is for you not to get totally sick,” Henrik summed up.  
“It won’t be any trouble if I do,” Eric objected. “I’m no good for the performance. Wilford or-or Bing will cope much better.”  
“Mein Gott,” Henrik muttered. “You’re not alone. I feel strange az well. I’ve never taken part in any performances.”  
“Really?”  
“Ja. But Mark decided I’ll fit for ze role of Dr. Finklestein just fine.” Eric snorted with laughter, having made Henrik roll his eyes. “Zat’s just it… Az about Wilford and Bing, first of all, zey have zeir parts, and secondly, Wilford’s too freaky even for ze role of Barrel, and Bing is not a singer. His singing soundz like white noize… Trust me, my little metal-walking pal, if Mark said you’re going to fit the role, zis means you are. Virgil was complaining too.”  
“Why? He told me it’s his favourite movie, and he got the star part!”  
“It’z about Celine.”  
“Celine? Wh-who’s Celine?”  
“The imp who lives wiz Mark’s girlfriend Amy. She is going to act az Sally, the love interest of Jack Skellington.”  
“And?..”  
“Virgil iz nervouz about it.”  
Having decided not to ask any more questions (he already felt dumb), Eric finished the lozenge. Meanwhile Henrik was humming something under his breath and then suddenly turned to the imp with prosthetic feet again:  
“By ze way, have you prepared ze song?”  
“Which song?”  
“Ah, maybe you weren’t present during ze discussion. Apart from ze performance, zere will be kind of a concert. Each of us who can sing should prepare a Halloween-themed song.”  
“But I don’t even know what this Halloween of yours is! I mean, I was told what it is, but…”  
“No worriez,” Henrik reassured him. “You can ask your mates. I’ve heard zat Wilford is preparing a song and dance act wiz Jameson and Remus. A mustached trio, ha ha! I’m not in zis, one role is enough for me…”  
Henrik was right. When Eric decided to join other imps in Marks’ bedroom (it took some time, although he managed to perform some gliding jumps along the way), he found that Wilford, Jameson and Remus were having a blast on the table, performing some kind of a strange dance (their feet were not tearing off the surface), while other imps were either laughing or cheering around them. The song to which the trio was dancing was quick and chaotic, and it was so noisy that Eric could not make a single word out.  
Finally Wilford stopped and rubbed the sweat off his forehead with a pant.  
“Keep you tentacles away from me, Remus,” he grumbled half-heartedly. Remus stuck his tongue at him, but put his four tentacles (he had them instead of a tail) behind his back. “Honestly, they’re weird.”  
“And I love it,” Remus replied with a sneer. “The weirder the better. Isn’t that the main rule of Halloween?.. Look who came, finally.” He squinted at Eric who climbed onto the chair at this moment. “Want a lift?”  
“No thanks.” Feverishly fluttering his wings, Eric managed to get at the same level with them and plopped down. “Wh-what about the songs? Schneep told me that we have to prepare songs.”  
Jameson nodded and unfolded his wings, showing words appearing on them (it was his way to communicate): [IT’S NOT AN OFFICIAL CONCERT, JUST FOR FUN. WE THREE CHOSE TIME WARP].  
“Time Warp?” Eric repeated (what a weird name for a song!). “Curiouser and curiouser… But I don’t know any strange and dark songs.”  
“No worries.” The imp in a baseball cap, Chase Brody (one of Jack’s charges), patted him on the shoulder. “First off, do you want to participate?”  
Eric hesitated. He didn’t want to be left out, but the thought of singing only made him shiver. Eventually he feebly nodded, the sensation of staying out scaring him more than stage fright.  
“Excellent!” The blue-winged imp with the heart-shaped tip of his tail (Eric recalled that his name was Patton, and he was one of Virgil’s and Remus’s brothers, right on time) beamed as if he got the best gift ever. “Most of the songs are performed in groups, so you will be supported. What about Grim Grinning Ghosts?”  
This time five imps – Anti, Dark, Kingie, the red-winged one (Romulus? No, Roman) and Patton himself – stood on their knees and froze like statues, while the Host pushed one of the buttons on the player next to them with his tail (he was sitting on the shelf above everyone, and his tail was so long that reaching almost anything he wanted was not a problem), having turned on a slow tune this time.  
“When the crypt doors creak and the tombstones quake,” Dark began.  
“Spooks come out for a swinging wake,” the rest four caught up.  
“Happy haunts materialize,” Dark went on.  
“And begin to vocalize, grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize,” all five continued. They all were keeping still, so that only their heads were moving.  
“They are going to pose as singing busts,” one of the Jims sneakily explained to Eric. “Wanna be the sixth one?”  
“N-no,” Eric confessed: he was sure that he was not able to stand still and sing at the same time. Having hastily looked through the list of songs he had learned (quite a short one), he found only one that could fit the theme. “H-has anyone chosen The Addams Family?”  
“I don’t think so,” the Jim replied and combed his hair backwards with his fingers, revealing tiny red horns on his forehead (so that was Cameraman Jim, CJ, for Reporter Jim, RJ, had blue horns).  
“No wonder. It’s short and silly.”  
“It’s short, but it’s classics,” CJ objected. “Besides, RJ and I could pose as – as Siamese twins!” Eric only blinked at that statement, for this was a new thing for him. “Usually twins are born separately, but there may be cases when they are… well… merged together. Those are called Siamese twins. Edward says that nowadays separating such ones is much easier than it was before, and I believe him.”  
“M-merged? You mean… like stuck to each other?” Eric wrinkled his nose. “Ew.”  
“A classic case is easy to fake,” CJ informed. “All we need to do is to tie two of our legs together and wear an extra-large sweater. The Addams Family had a lot of weird relatives, so why couldn’t there be… emm… Tricky and Freaky Addams? As about you, you don’t even need a costume. As Wednesday Addams said, she dressed up as a serial killer, and they look exactly like normal people.”  
Eric nervously giggled: although the idea of ‘the worse, the better’ was slowly getting to him, his natural anxiety was furious. Finally he decided that he liked this idea. Now the thing was to think of a strange name, for he remembered that it was the rule of the Addams Family.  
“Metallius.”  
“What?”  
“Metallius Addams. How does that sound?”  
“Sweet,” CJ beamed. “Hey, look, the Singing Busts have completed their rehearsal. RJ! Where are you? Time for some spooky and ooky singing!”  
Without further ado he pushed Eric into the middle of the improvised scene so that he almost crashed into Anti (whose razor-sharp wings unfolded with alert, but quickly folded again, having not damaged anyone). And the Host pushed another button on the player.   
Da-da-da-dum, snap, snap. Da-da-da-dum, snap, snap.  
Omniscient, Eric recalled. Of course. Before he could’ve frozen with all eyes on him (and the Jims, judging by the shuffling behind him), he snapped his fingers in the rhythm and began the first verse, having forgotten that his throat had been sore a little while ago:  
“They’re creepy and they’re kooky,  
Mysterious and spooky,  
They’re all together ooky,  
The Addams Family.”  
***  
“Stop pretending, Eric. I can see that you’re not sleeping.”  
Eric rolled over and stared at Mark, who leaned over the collection of triple-bunk beds.   
“How did you guess I was not?” he mumbled, putting his glasses on (he still didn’t know who produced such tiny glasses; somebody had to do that officially, for CJ, Kingie, Google, Henrik, Patton and his brother Logan did wear them too; moreover, Jameson wore a monocle and Bing had orange shades).  
“The bed is shaking under you.” Mark placed his hands, palms up, in front of Eric, and the imp crawled into them. “I’ve heard you agreed to participate in the concert.”  
“CJ made me,” Eric confessed. “And-and it’s no good to be left out.”  
“I understand your concern, but if you don’t want to do something, just say it out loud. Here nobody will be angry at you for this.” Mark walked to the balcony and placed Eric onto the wooden railing. “So, which song did you choose?”  
“The Addams Family. And I will be posing as Metallius Addams.”  
“Wow, that’s nice. Listen, tomorrow we’re going to have another rehearsal, and we were going to discuss the costumes for the concert.”  
“That tentacled imp with spiked balls on his wings constantly wears one,” Eric muttered. Mark chuckled:  
“Totally. In fact, Remus and Roman gave me the idea. Wilford demanded a pink afro, and Jameson… well, he always looks like a jolly gentleman, right?”  
Eric suppressed a laugh, imagining Wilford with the mentioned hairstyle. That was going to be a doozy.  
“Metallius,” Mark mused. “Metallius. What do you think about an armor-styled costume?”  
“I-I-I don’t want to overload you,” Eric babbled.  
“It’s not overloading. We’re not leaving you out, as you said,” Mark pointed out. “Besides, everyone’s going to work. Making tiny clothes is not so easy for big creatures like me. Will you participate in some stitching work?”  
“Yesyesyes!” Eric bounced on the railing and would’ve fallen off if Mark hadn’t caught him by the tail.  
“Keep calm! Were there any other ideas?”  
“The Jims wanted to pose as Siamese twins.”  
“Aaah, that’s their style.”  
“Yeah, b-but it should be unbearable to walk around with someone attached to you all the time,” Eric confessed. “I-I wouldn’t have stood it.”  
“But you stand walking with those prosthetics,” Mark objected. “You should’ve had feathered wings and halo instead of those webbed ones and these,” he caressed Eric’s head with his finger, starting from the little yellow rounded horns below his hairline (they used to be broken, but had been smoothed soon after Eric’s arrival). “However, who cares? I’m even surprised that you managed to stay this pure despite being mistreated. You’re stronger than you think, Eric.”  
Eric wrapped his wings around himself to hide that he blushed beet-red. Mark chuckled:  
“I’ve heard that there also was the Grim Grinning Ghosts song, right?”  
“Yes,” Eric nodded, folding his extra limbs.  
“Canonically, there should be not only the Singing Busts, but the Ghost Host too. Got it?”  
“G-Ghost Host,” Eric repeated. “He’s already like a ghost. And who doesn’t need a costume is him, for sure.”  
“But more effects wouldn’t be extra, hm? What do you think about fake blood?”  
“Eesh!”  
“That’s what I wanted to hear.”  
***  
Eric had some experience of working with needles and threads, for he had had to mend his ripped clothes when he had lived with his previous owner. This time the task was much thornier, for it was not only about putting pieces of fabric together – it was adding decorations as well, and Eric had a lot of doubt that the result would be decent.   
“Make those stitches a little smaller,” Amy instructed. At first Eric hadn’t been able to speak in her presence, but now the atmosphere was much more relaxed, for her attitude was as patient and caring as Mark’s. “Don’t worry, it’s always so. You should never show a work in progress, for it almost always looks lumpy at least.”  
“That’s right,” Thomas nodded (he was occupied with something strange: pants with three legs; probably for the twins). “It’s like cooking. Mixtures may look gross, but the results are completely different… Ah, there you are.” At this moment two balls of energy, red and blue, dashed into the room. “Try these on, pals.”  
While the Jims were attempting to push themselves into the conjoined clothing, Amy carried Eric into the rehearsal room, where Virgil was in the middle of Jack’s Lament. This time Eric was convinced that he and Roman were brothers, for Virgil’s singing was outstandingly heart-wrenching (in good sense), and if Roman was the drama king in his normal life, the stage could blow his reactions up to twenty times at least.  
“Excellent one, Virgil!” Mark quietly clapped. “Okay, now for…”  
The Jims did not let him continue, for they walked into the room, dressed in those very three-legged pants with three suspenders, the middle one separating the halves of their shirt which was red on the right and blue on the left. How they managed to walk in one set of clothes for both, Eric had no idea, as well as about the way that shirt was made up to leave all four of their wings out.  
“We are Siamese if you please,” the twins sung in grotesque squeaky voices. “We are Siamese if you don’t please! Now we’re looking over our new domicile – if we like, we stay for maybe quite a while!”  
“Glad that you’re ready, but maybe you’ll turn into the two-faced Mayor?” Jack asked. “Riiiiiiight, it’s not gonna happen… Marvin, Eric, Remus, your turn!”  
This time Eric made himself recalled several times when he had been with one of the fifteen imps that had lived with his previous owner before. They had sneaked to the movie theater and had watched some funny scenes, munching on the remains of popcorn stolen by – Terrick? Merrick? – before being chased out. And it had been strangely fun. Technically it had been a bad thing to do, but Eric remembered the feeling of thrill and now did his best to wake it up.  
“Kidnap Mr. Sandy Claws?”   
This time they managed to say the phrase almost in perfect sync. Marvin’s eyebrows jumped up, and he continued:  
“I wanna do it!”  
“Let’s draw straws!” Eric caught up, knot of tension inside him easing.  
“Jack said we should work together.” Of course, in real life Remus would’ve never stated something like that, but it sounded convincing.  
“Three of a kind!” Eric put in.  
“Birds of a feather!” Marvin added, and all three finished the speaking part:  
“Now and forever! Wheeee!”  
This time Eric played his part better, as he thought, but his challenges were not over for today. In the evening the ‘trial makeup session’ was announced.  
“Now I’ll have make-up,” Remus joyfully stated, watching Amy apply black eyeshadow to Virgil’s eyelids. “Powder and everything. Like a girl… Smells sweet. Wonder what it tastes like?”  
Virgil only blindly whipped Remus with his tail. Now, with chalk-white face and drawn stitches next to mouth corners, he was looking so appallingly that Eric almost tumbled down onto the floor after seeing him completely. And he was not even wearing his costume! If with casual clothes it was so impressive, then what would the complete image be like?  
The procedure was odd, but not unpleasant. Once or twice Eric did his best not to sneeze when the powder got into his nose, but mostly of the time he sat motionlessly, wondering what his new image would be like. And it appeared to be similar to Virgil’s, but without the ‘mouth stitches’ and more… childish or something.  
“You know what the funny thing is?” Marvin landed next to Eric, carrying a huge (for an imp) witch hat. “In the movie Shock is a girl, but in our version it’s going to be Squidward Tentacles.”   
Remus only screeched with laughter at this statement, and he absolutely adored becoming green-faced. Marvin felt uneasy about taking his mask off, but eventually agreed and received long red eyebrows and bluish lips.  
But the ones who really stood out were the Host and Wilford. The first one’s make-up was minimum, almost like Marvin’s: all that was added were red vertical lines on his cheeks, resembling blood drop tracks, but they added remarkable effect. And Wilford… well, he received his pink afro wig and now was soaring around like a giant ball of cotton candy.  
“No way. The Host is not going to sing,” the Host stated. “He is going to tell scary stories. The shivers on the listeners’ backs are guaranteed if the Host is helped. And he is going to be helped.”  
***  
The evening of the performance was approaching, and the imps slowly got involved into the redecoration of the small garden next to Mark’s house. Now pumpkin lights (jack-o-lanterns, Eric reminded himself), spiral wire decorations and paper bats were hung and attached everywhere where it was possible, but not only that: the humans had instructed everyone to make at least one his or her own decoration. Some of them were easily recognizable, like Marvin’s cardboard cats (this one with its back arched, that one with a charming smile), Virgil’s spiders (mostly plastic ones) and Anti’s knives (plastic too, for Jack hadn’t allowed him use the real ones, to his dismay), but some were tricky, like a mirror made out of pieces (only later Eric learned that it was Dark’s work) and wooden puppets (Jameson’s addition).  
The whole picture showed up when twilight came and the yellow and orange lights were turned on in addition to the candles in the carved pumpkins (this one with moustache, that one with a lop-sided smirk). And I thought it was possible only in movies, Eric thought, carefully stepping on the carpet of yellow leaves not to slip.  
Snap!  
Eric slipped and flopped onto the nearest pile of leaves.  
“Sorry. Are you hurt?” The reason appeared to be Amy, who was holding her phone in the position most suitable for taking pictures.  
“I-I am not,” Eric replied, standing up and shaking the dust off his clothes.   
“You were just so enchanted that I couldn’t resist. Are you nervous about the performance?”  
“Yes,” Eric nodded. “Although i-it’s dumb. Virgil must be the most nervous. And-and Janus is too. He plays it cool, but I-I know when people are anxious.”  
“Janus? The one who acts as Oogie-Boogie Man?”  
“Mm-hmm.” The imp fiddled with his fingers. “Jackieboy may be offended. He likes playing superheroes, and this time he’ll be practically a victim. Remus, Marvin and myself are gonna kidnap him.”  
“That idea seemed strange to me at first. Jackie as Santa Claus! Although Logan as a mad scientist reviving monsters which do mashes is even stranger, don’t you think?”  
Monsters which do mashes? Ah! Monster Mash was the song that Logan had chosen. Another weird-worded one… although Eric was slowly getting the hang of this collection of stranger things. Then he paid attention to the circle of young trees with pictures painted on them – a pumpkin lantern, a painted egg, a decorated fir tree, a four-leaf clover, a brown bird, a cracker and a heart.  
“What is it?”  
“It’s for the performance. And in all it’s pretty, huh?”  
***  
Eric’s costume was more of a black skeleton onesie, and he liked it. The evening was cool, and it was hiding his prosthetic feet (the only problem now was not losing his shoes). In addition Amy and Thomas had painted his wings, having made them completely black with white bone lines, but they could not do anything with his hair, so it was made as messy as possible.  
The Host acted as the narrator at the beginning and then turned into a DJ, turning the required tunes on. Mark, Jack, Thomas and Amy had stated that they had invited their friends to see the performance, but it seemed like much more people came – or was Eric so nervous that he took one person for two? Anyway, the intro passed on smoothly, and even Celine who seemed to be very cold-blooded was coping with her role of Sally.  
“Okay, now Jack’s Lament, then What’s This, and then i-it’s up to you not to spoil it, Eric,” he muttered, hiding his hands into the sleeves, and started when a limb – not a hand – curled around his waist. “Eep! Remus? Is that you?”  
“I just love showing up when I’m not invited,” Remus sneered and blew a bubble out of the green gum he was chewing; it popped and covered his face till the forehead. It was strange to see him in a dull pinkish coat instead of his usual frilly outfit. “Knees shaking?”  
Eric nodded.  
“Even supermodels sometimes fall on the runways, and that doesn’t make them worse,” Remus commented, detaching the pieces of gum from his face. Then, to Eric’s disgust, he put them all together and tossed into his mouth again. “It’s gonna be just fine… Thomas is always nervous before his performances, but then he comes to the stage and forgets his worries! It’s a thing. Just don’t be too dramatic, okay? That’s my twinny’s job.”  
It’s even strange that Roman had not regained the role of Santa Claus, Eric decided and made himself see reason: if it was a classic tale with princes and princesses, Roman would’ve done it, and this time… Eric snorted, having imagined Roman in a red jacket and with a fake beard. This image fitted Jackie much better despite seeming odd at first.  
In the movie Lock, Shock and Barrel wore masks, but those had appeared to be too difficult to make, so Marvin, Remus and Eric had been instructed to make smiles as fake as possible during the first scene and reveal emotions only during the song part. It sounded easy, but Eric almost cracked up at the sight of the Jims dressed in two-sided business-styled (grotesque) clothing back-to-back to each other.  
“And what are you two doing here?” CJ snapped (he played the ‘sad face Mayor’ part).  
“Jack called for us,” Marvin replied.  
“Specifically!” Remus qualified.  
“By name,” Eric added carelessly, though his heart was thumping in his ears, deafening him.  
“Lock!”  
“Shock!”  
“And Barrel!”  
“Jack, those are… Boogie boys,” CJ mumbled very convincingly.   
Eric didn’t hear anything that Virgil was pretending to whisper to them. The only thing he could see was one of the black ‘stitches’ on Virgil’s cheek that was partially erased, but indeed, who cared? He could see it because he was close to the imp playing the main part, and from a distance… who else could?   
“Kidnap Mr. Sandy Claws?”   
This was said by two voices instead of three, and Eric snapped out of his wrong kind of day-dreaming. Forcing himself not to panic, he recalled what he should do next.  
“I wanna do it!”  
“Let’s draw straws!” Eric stated and received a familiar push from Remus.  
“Jack said we should work together!”  
“Three of a kind!”  
“Birds of a feather!”  
“Now and forever!”  
***  
Eric leaned onto the player and relaxed, feeling the coolness of plastic and metal against his heated face. He didn’t even register when the Host turned the next tune on.  
“The Host is certain it was something. But Eric seems bothered. What made him uncomfortable?”  
“I know you’re asking it just to calm me down,” Eric replied, having grabbed a pack of wet towel wipes and attempting to get rid of the makeup, for he didn’t need it anymore, and he had to prepare for the role of ‘Metallius Addams’.  
“Yes. But the Host knows firsthand that talking about things bothering people without asking them freaks them out.”  
“Sure. I-I had to hold myself from escaping the stage when I missed the line three of us should’ve said.”  
“But then Eric played his part excellently, as well as Marvin. Remus went a little bit extreme. The Host is not blaming him, he’s naturally such, even though he refuses to accept it. Brothers.”  
The sounds of cheering from behind the wall (the player was hidden under the porch, from where there was a secret way to the house) told Eric that the concert was about to begin. Anti’s voice approved it:  
“Hey! And what about the party?”  
Judging by the gasp that followed, the Singing Busts Quintet was not moving during the performance. Or maybe everyone’s attention was too drawn to the actors? Anyway, now, disguised as statues (only their upper halves, not counting arms and wings, were visible, while the rest was hidden with special cloth and stands), they were quite a sight, especially when Dark started his solo.   
Eric pulled the jacket decorated with dozens of thin metal chains on. The knight-styled outfit had not worked out, for the foil could not be attached to the fabric reliably (it was constantly falling off), so the final concept was heavy-metalish. The pants were ordinary if not to count leather fringe on its sleeves, and in addition he had to put goggles onto his head. Goggles and glasses – how did you like that? Eric’s eyes were tearing up with having to tense his sight during the performance, so he had no choice but to wear both at the same time.  
The chains rattle when he moves. Ghosts rattling their chains, grim grinning ghosts coming out to socialize… The song was ending, and that meant it was Eric’s turn. Not hiding his prosthetic feet this time, he walked out – and froze.  
This time it was for real. All eyes were on him. Some girls were making comments like ‘aww, cutie!’, some were showing that gesture – horns? – that Eric had seen while watching rock concert videos, some were just clapping and cheering, already heated up by the performance and the beginning, but they all had something in common – they were spinning around Eric, even though he was standing still. Then Eric’s head became heavy, as if hit with a rock, and it got silent. Did he turn deaf all of a sudden?  
When silence changed to whispering and dissatisfied muttering, Eric realized that he was held by the shoulders and then recognized the blue and red sleeves.  
“What is it, Metallius?” RJ asked. “Have you overdone with the chains again?”  
“I think he has not, Freaky,” CJ added. Trying to save the day by acting as their characters, how sweet, Eric thought and clenched his teeth not to burst into sobs or something. And the wish to do so was high…   
“I just love it when chains are so heavy that they make me fall!”   
It was a total stream of consciousness based on Eric’s memory that the Addams Family members took almost everything vice versa. Bad meant good, the freakier the better.  
The singing part went on… the word ‘okay’ would be the best to describe it. Eric thanked the Jims for the thousandth time (in his mind) after he finally had a chance to escape the ‘stage’ and let the twins cut the tension with their version of We Are Siamese.  
He didn’t even register being given a one-winged hug from the side. And it took him even more time to be amazed at the fact that it was given by Virgil – hair sticking to all directions and then some, make-up half-washed off, shades under the eyes.  
“You’ll get used to it,” he grumbled. “Anxiety is a stinker, but a good friend to me too. May it become one for you as well. By the way, cool improvisation with the fall.”  
“Th-thanks.”  
“I’m glad that I don’t have to act anymore,” Virgil admitted, brightening up a bit. “Wanna dance? I hear that it’s almost time for your cotton candy psycho’s number. Remus told me that anyone could join.”  
“B-but I can’t dance, I-I’m gonna fall again,” Eric replied.  
“This song contains instructions how to dance. Come on!”  
Before Eric knew it, he was already in the bunch of imps watching Wilford (in the middle), Jameson and Remus, who were bending over backwards to impress the public.  
“It’s just a jump to the left and then a step to the right,” Wilford instructed to the tune. What an odd song. “Put your hands on your hips, you bring your knees in tight, but it’s the pelvic thrust, they really drive you insa-a-a-ane! Let’s do the Time Warp Again!”  
Not wanting to know what the lyrics of the song meant, Eric glanced at Virgil, who smirked and took a running leap, having landed on the left to Jameson. The imp in the bowlhat gave him a joyous smile, and Virgil joined the dance like nothing even happened.  
In the middle of the second stanza Wilford performed a high jump – a bit too high, for his pink afro wig almost flew off, but he caught it right on time and plopped it back onto his head, having made the audience laugh. And really, who cares? – Eric thought unexpectedly for himself. If Wilford can lose his wig, Virgil can dance with his makeup flaking and… and Jameson doesn’t even talk, but everyone loves him, then why can’t I try?  
And, not feeling his legs under him, Eric found himself to the left of Remus, the chains on his jacket rumbling like a whole bunch of ghosts.   
“That’s right! Let’s do the Time Warp again!”

**Author's Note:**

> Main performance cast:  
> Virgil Sanders: Jack Skellington  
> Celine the Seer: Sally  
> Henrik von Schneeplestein: Dr. Finklestein  
> Janus Sanders: Oogie-Boogie Man  
> Jackieboy-Man: Santa Claus  
> Marvin the Magnificent: Lock  
> Remus Sanders: Shock  
> Eric Derekson: Barrel  
> The Jim Twins: the Mayor (happy and sad faces)
> 
> Songs mentioned (except for those from the Nightmare before Christmas):  
> Grim Grinning Ghosts (Haunted Mansion)  
> The Addams Family theme song  
> Time Warp (The Rocky Horror Picture Show)  
> Monster Mash (Bobby Pickett)  
> We Are Siamese (Lady and the Tramp)


End file.
